


Haunted

by TheMerryPanda



Series: Tales of Garreg Mach [2]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon-Typical Violence, Dreams and Nightmares, Female My Unit | Byleth, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Blue Lions Route, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Blue Lions Route Spoilers, Gen, Nightmares, Post-Time Skip, Post-Timeskip | War Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-16
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:14:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25911934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheMerryPanda/pseuds/TheMerryPanda
Summary: It is the Great Tree Moon, year 1186, a week before the Kingdom Army is to depart for the Great Bridge of Myrddin, then proceed south towards Enbarr. The Blue Lions students have noticed their former professor gradually becoming more wearied over the past few moons. Byleth cannot disclose to them why.Alternate Title: The Tale of Byleth(TW: Canonical violence, mild blood and death.)
Relationships: Blue Lions Students & My Unit | Byleth, Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd & My Unit | Byleth, Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/My Unit | Byleth
Series: Tales of Garreg Mach [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1880578
Kudos: 17





	Haunted

**Author's Note:**

> This is some odd work that can serve as either the final chapter in The Tales of Garreg Mach, a stand alone, or possibly be followed by an older work Until The Bitter End (perhaps with some editing). It was intended to be the former, but this ended being a lot more dismal and less-lighthearted than the other stories, so... here it is in its own category.  
> I’m not usually an angst writer, so those who were looking for that it may up to your preferences, and for those who prefer happy endings, you’ll have to look into the canon for the Azure Moon route to find it. Dimileth is optional, but my personal headcanon is that there are no romantic feelings post-timeskip between the two until after the Battle of Grondor.
> 
> Mini-Playlist especially for the Dimileth shippers:  
> Gravity - Sara Bareilles  
> Beautiful Disaster - Kelly Clarkson (slow version)  
> When I Look At You from the musical The Scarlet Pimpernel

The Great Bridge of Myrddin was well fortified. Their success so far had been to the surprise return of Dedue and Byleth managing to single out Lorenz and recruit him after she and Ingrid defeated him. Many Kingdom soldiers had fallen, but many more still stood, which was greatly needed for gambits to take down the demonic beasts.

A demonic beast took a swipe. Byleth heard an agonized cry and her heart sank.

“I… don’t want to die… I have to make it home…”

Suddenly the demonic beast made a swipe at her, and she collapsed beside a now deceased Ashe Ubert, fear and desperation frozen upon his youthful face. Pain sheared up her rib cage, and her hand reached for the large gash. Blood flowed through her fingers, blood that would join the many drops shed that colored the Armid River rosy pink.

Her own vision colored pink, then faded dark. So, this is how it ends…

“Forgive me, everyone. My battle ends here.” She croaked as her breathing slowed.

* * *

Byleth woke with a start and an ache in her chest. Slowly, she inhaled, and stared at a blank wall of her empty dormitory room. She, and Ashe, were still alive. She had the powers of the goddess Sothis to thank for that.

But she didn’t know what the limits of that power would be, and that fact filled her with dread.

Byleth rubbed her eyes and began getting dressed for the day. Thankfully, it was Sunday, Day 26 of the Great Tree Moon to be precise. Tomorrow they would prepare to march back to the Great Bridge of Myrrdin, then proceed to Enbarr. But for now, Byleth intended to rest the best she could.

Byleth doesn’t sleep well, not anymore. Not since four moons ago. Her whole world changed after one battle went awry. She let herself become distracted defending an immaculate white – wyvern? It had four legs rather than two – which fought demonic beasts on the enemy lines, and nearly got herself killed by a powerful mage, specifically the one that spared Monica – no, Kronya – and allowed her to stab her father despite Byleth reversing time with the Divine Pulse. Byleth had barely enough time to raise her sword and take the blow which sent her falling from a cliff. The last thing she remembered was trying to slow her fall by digging the sword into the rocky cliffside. Next, Sothis’s voice returned to wake her, only to have disappeared again since.

Byleth washed up, then went to spend the rest of the morning alone fishing. On the way to the docks, she came across Ingrid, who was sitting on a bench outside of the ground floor dormitories, pouring over a map of southern Fódlan. Gronder Field, Byleth recognized. Where their next battle would likely take place. In just a few days, the army would depart for the Great Bridge of Myrddin and proceed towards the Imperial Capital, Enbarr.

“Yet another grand battle awaits.” Ingrid sighed. “Many will lose their lives.”

 _There’s no way around it_ , Byleth would have answered six years ago. She has learned since then that her students already know this fact, and what they prefer is encouragement to see each other alive and well after the battle.

“Let’s fight our hardest to stay alive.” Byleth finally answered.

Ingrid smiled and nodded. “Yes, let’s. We must both make it home in one piece.”

_Glenn… I’ll see you soon. Death isn’t sad, not… really._

“Even considering those we are up against – friends from a time now past – I won’t hold back.”

_Maybe, I’ve become like him._

Byleth nodded distantly, acknowledging Ingrid’s confidence before going her way.

The Church and the Kingdom depended on her to lead battles, and they were very different from skirmishes as a mercenary and professor. She had to rely on the Divine Pulse, multiple times in some battles, in order to keep her students alive. It seemed only inevitable that in one of these battles, her ability to use the Divine Pulse was going to wear out, and she will have to deal with the despair of watching her students die and not be able to save them. Just like with her father.

She reached the pond beside the greenhouse, sat at the edge of the dock, and cast a line in the water. In truth, this morning’s nightmare was much more mild compared to the ones she’s been having recently. As the war waged on, Byleth’s nightmares grew steadily worse. These nightmares, visions only Byleth could see, were of alternate realities, only prevented by the powers Sothis bestowed upon her.

She intended to avoid the students today to prevent their cries at death from ringing in her ears, but today the lack of fish biting and the silence of the water only seemed to amplify their voices. Cries of young allies who didn’t feel ready to depart from this life.

“Professor?”

Byleth turned to see Flayn standing behind her. “May I sit with you?”

_Mother… I will see you soon._

“Sure.”

Flayn reverently sat beside her, straightening her skirt as she seated herself. Byleth found some consolation in her presence. Everyone else visibly aged and grew older, but not she. Flayn looked the same as she did five years ago.

“You look weary.” Flayn observed.

“I’m always weary.” Byleth countered.

“Yes, you work hard and often. So hard my brother worries you’ll collapse.”

Byleth shrugged her shoulders.

“Perhaps it would aid you to rest longer today? I understand that sleep allows the body to heal from wear. I used to love it when my mother brought me to the sea. She would fish, and we would talk and listen to the sound of the waves crashing onto the beach while I rested beside her.”

“What did you want to say, Flayn?”

“Oh, right. Sidetracked again. About sleep… I used to not mind it, but now…” Flayn deeply inhaled. “I have a fear of sleeping. I worry that I will awake, and everyone I know and love will have vanished.”

Byleth mistimed when to reel, and a fish escaped. She sighed and set down her fishing rod. “I understand the feeling.” She finally said.

Byleth didn’t like that she understood so well. For five years, everything moved on without her. Her students grew up, hardened by five years of war. The most devastating to see was Dimitri. From what she gathered from the others, he had been wandering alone for years, having fled his home from execution for a crime he didn’t commit. Since then, his only company was the Imperial soldiers he found and slaughtered and his own haunting thoughts. She remembered how her heart sank when he had mistaken her for a ghost when they reunited four moons ago. Despite her best efforts, he still remained the bitter, tormented, vindictive shell of a man she found then.

Flayn reached for the collar of her dress. “Here. I have something to give to you.”

She unfastened a clip, then placed the item in Byleth’s hand. It was a blue brooch. The Blue Lion Brooch.

“Flayn, I…”

“You once gave me this for good luck before the White Heron cup. I feel now you need it more than I.”

Byleth wanted to protest, but Flayn looked insistent. Instead she held the brooch, pocketing it rather than pinning it to her own clothing. “Thank you.”

Later that night, Byleth looked through the desk drawer. Her few belongings were salvaged by hiding them in a false bottom of a drawer. From under her journal, she pulled out a letter, dated the 20th of the Horsebow Moon 1180:

> _Happy birthday, Professor. It isn’t much, but we got you a gift as a symbol of our gratitude. I hope you will accept it._
> 
> _~ Dimitri_

Nearly as fast as she read the letter, Byleth folded the letter back up and hid it back under the false bottom. Her fist clenched around the brooch that she carried in her pocket the rest of that day, and a flurry of emotions returned to her: anger, sorrow, frustration.

* * *

They were in Ailell, the famed Valley of Torment. The ground seemed angry at those who dared walk upon it, bursting in uncomfortably hot steam and fire with little predictability.

Sylvain led the front of a group that was bound to take on Lord Gwendal’s army. Felix took a place beside him. Byleth’s mistake here was not having Annette back them up. An enemy cavalier struck at Felix. Sylvain got between them to protect his friend, only to take a fatal blow to his chest. Felix tended to him, angry when Sylvain used his final moments to wink and smile weakly at him. “Heh, I’m not afraid. I figured it would end like this…” he had said.

* * *

Byleth blinked awake. Instinctively now, she touched her eyes. Since her father’s death, she had grown used to a thin coat of rheum forming on her eyelids while she slept.

The march to Myrddin went rather smoothly. Byleth took her usual place towards the front of the army, beside Rodrigue, Gilbert, Dedue, and Dimitri. She didn’t like how Dimitri leered and murmured to himself.

“I can finally kill her… Finally, I can avenge them…”

She hated how desperately she wanted to believe that her good friend of five years past was not gone. If she were smart, she would have heeded and accepted what he said a long three moons ago. _The Dimitri you once knew is dead. All that remains is the repulsive, blood-stained monster you see before you._

The evidence that supported that claim quietly angered Byleth. When Dimitri resolved to use her and her friends “until the flesh falls from [their] bones”, Byleth resolved to do everything in her power to keep them alive while they chose to continue fighting with him, even trying to open a communication with Claude to make more allies. (Where was that messenger, anyway?)

She hated it the most when he used her grief when she mourned Jeralt’s murder and went to kill Monica – no, Kronya – in revenge to justify his urgent quest for Edelgard’s head. She hated it because he was right. She put the students at unnecessary risk, same as Dimitri is doing now. Byleth had refused to give Kronya the chance to unjustly take any loved one again. Dimitri wanted to reach Enbarr sooner to slay Edelgard, as he associated her with the loss of his father and stepmother. They were, in fact, two demons; one of ash, another of narrow vision.

“We’re the same, you and I.”

She liked him better when he saw them both as people rather than as monsters.

_He’s strong and skilled, sure. But don’t place your trust in him as a human being. Beneath all that princely polish, he’s an animal, nothing more. Take care he doesn’t chew you up and spit you out._

* * *

They were marching to the Kingdom’s capital, Fhirdiad. But Felix and Annette were against them.

The army was split into three; the main flank with Ashe, Dedue, and the other knights of Seiros and church members to take on Cornelia, Gilbert and Mercedes to reason with Annette, and meeting Felix were Sylvain, Ingrid, and Dimitri. Byleth raced to all three groups with a pegasus Ingrid taught her to ride.

“Stand aside!” Felix shouted to an enemy soldier, his voice angry and bitter. “There is something I must do.” He then glanced to Byleth, raising his sword. He flashed a sinister grin that reminded Byleth of when Dimitri discovered the Flame Emperor’s identity and slaughtered Edelgard’s soldiers with inhuman ease. She shuddered. “I’ll relish cutting you down. No need for chitchat. Come at me!”

“Felix!” Ingrid shouted from the skies as she descended to meet him. “Get a grip! There’s no need to fight.”

“Out of my way, Ingrid. I must defeat him.” Him referred to Dimitri, and Byleth felt her chest tighten at the thought.

“And then? What will become of you?”

Felix said nothing, but glared bitterly toward Dimitri and Sylvain who were catching up to her. Ingrid scoffed. “You never have listened to reason!” She said.

Sylvain ran his horse between Felix and Ingrid before he could attack her. It cost him his own horse. He leaped to his feet before he could be crushed by the weight of his horse.

“Sylvain, stand aside. My blade thirsts for his blood, not yours.”

“If that’s so, then you oughta stand down.” Replied Sylvain. “I don’t want to fight you either!”

“Fine. Then we’re at an impasse.”

Finally, Prince Dimitri himself arrived to the scene. Sylvain stepped back, away from Felix so his two friends could talk.

“So, the old man’s dead…” Felix surmised.

“Yes.” Dimitri’s answer was short and bitter.

Felix snarled angrily. “I’ll cut you down. Prepare yourself, you damn boar!”

Dimitri looked sadly to his former friend. “Very well. Come at me, Felix!”

The two fought, rapidly slashing sword against lance, Crest against Crest. Although he was an enemy here, Byleth still ached inside when finally, Felix slumped to the ground, arms too weak to strike once more. Life emptied from his body as a pool of blood collected underneath him. Dimitri simply stared as he stood above him.

“It’s over…” Felix groaned. “I’m sorry, Father.”

His last breath departed from his lips, and Felix Hugo Fraldarius moved no more.

* * *

Byleth took extra time to spar with Felix that day. Despite his insistence that he hated his father Rodrigue, it seemed that their relationship improved some since his arrival from Ailell. The two didn’t speak much, but enough for Felix to no longer regard Rodrigue as his enemy.

Ingrid assured her that this was enough. The family isn’t that big on displays of affection.

Felix has become remarkably more resilient in battle. He managed to defeat her, and more quickly than when he had been a student. However, she did manage to surprise him by kicking his sword out of his hands when she rose from the ground, but winced when she heard his sword clatter upon the stone floor.

_Where’s my weapon? Damn it! Can’t see… anything._

“Heh, good work.” Felix commented.

“You as well.”

They picked up their weapons and reinforced them before returning them to the weapons stock hold. Sylvain, who had wandered near to attempt (and fail) to win over a young maiden nearby, was roped into assisting them. A somber feeling filled the air as they talked about what is to take place in the next few days.

“As powerful as our knights are,” Felix said, “we’re outnumbered. By a long shot. This won’t be easy. It’s crazy to attempt this.” He sighed. “I guess I’m crazy to go along with it.”

At least he would be on our side, Byleth thought to herself.

“Professor Byleth?”

Byleth turned to Sylvain.

“Say we do manage to take down Edelgard here… what do you think His Highness will do next? As long as there’s a plan, I won’t complain. I just, you know, wanna know there is a plan.”

Ashe had asked her a similar question not too long ago. And if she was being honest, Byleth wasn’t sure of the answer. It seemed that Dimitri saw that his only mission was to end Edelgard’s life. Who’s to say that he would want to continue to live on once that mission was complete?

Byleth would have preferred the additional strength that would come from helping her students reclaim the Kingdom; however that idea got shot down by Dimitri, who believed it would be a waste of time. Byleth would have rather “wasted” time than wasted people.

“Continue on to the Imperial capital?” she finally said, though not very confidently.

“Yeah, I suppose that’s the most likely plan since we’re travelling with the church and everything.” Sylvain agreed.

The goal of the Knights of Seiros that backed her was to find Lady Rhea, and the sooner they could do that, the sooner she could relinquish her position as acting leader of the Church back to Lady Rhea. And then what?

They finished reinforcing the weapons, and Byleth excused herself to prepare for bed.

“Professor Byleth?”

She turned back to face the two students.

“Before we knew who the Flame Emperor was, His Highness seemed willing to follow you anywhere. I could see in how he talked about you that he respected you a lot as a friend and not just as a teacher. How did you… what did you do?”

Sylvain had asked the question, but both his and Felix’s eyes begged to know the answer. Byleth wished she knew the answer too.

“I don’t know.” She replied. Dimitri barely complied with her commands in battle now. “I’ve done nothing of note beyond fighting and asking questions. He chose to open to me on his own volition. That was all him.”

And it would have to be all him if he is ever to return to his former state, she left unspoken.

On her way into Myrrdin’s fort, she declined Alois’s invitation to sit with him and the other students sharing stories and sweets around the watchfire. Thankfully, he didn’t get offended.

She conversed with Alois and her students around a fire before. Sometimes Ashe or Ingrid would share one of their favorite knights tales. Sometimes Mercedes shared a ghost story. And sometimes Alois just shared an absurd story with as many lame jokes as he could throw in there until folks were either groaning or laughing.

“Well, rest well, Byleth.”

Byleth nodded.

_Don’t worry, Captain. I’ve got… no regrets._

“Thank you.”

Byleth felt exhausted when she finally climbed into her bedroll. She hoped it meant a more peaceful sleep tonight.

* * *

Much to her dismay, the dream from the previous night recurred, this time she found herself fighting against Annette Fantine Dominic.

“I won’t let you pass, no matter who you are!” Annette shouted, her hands crackling with magical energy as she used Crusher to fell a soldier.

“Stand down, Annette! Why are you doing this?” Byleth asked.

“There’s someone I must protect! I won’t step aside… even if it means fighting you, Professor.”

Annette dodged a swipe from Byleth’s Sword of the Creator.

Mercedes called out to her. “Can’t you put an end to this nonsense and come home? I’ll even bake some of your favorite treats!”

Annette froze, and tears began to well in her eyes. “I love your treats, Mercie. They taste great, and they’re really good with piping hot tea… I would have liked to enjoy them one more time… but I’m sorry. I can’t return home just yet.”

“Annie…” Mercedes cast fire spells towards her friend, but even the heat of the flames couldn’t dry her wet cheeks.

Finally, Gilbert approached his estranged daughter. “Annette, throw down your arms! Would you really fight your father?”

“I can’t do it, Father.” Annette, answered, her voice breaking as tears streamed down her face. “I can’t betray Mother and my uncle! If I have to defeat you, then so be it!” 

Annette took a swing at her father. Gilbert returned a fatal blow that brought Annette to her knees before she collapsed. Mercedes tried to tend to her wounds, but she was bleeding faster than she could mend the skin. Annette rested her hand on Mercedes’s for a moment, assuring her that it’s OK to let her go. She then turned to Gilbert. “Father, I beg you…” she pleaded with a strained voice. “Instead of me… help Mother…”

Her chest stopped rising and falling. Mercedes sobbed aloud, and even Gilbert shed a tear at killing his own child. “Yes. I promise, Annette.”

* * *

Annette was holding a stack of letters and talking with Gilbert when Byleth went to find her. It was easier to see between them that their bonds were mending than with Felix and his father. And though they claimed to be brother and sister, Byleth learned otherwise from Seteth and Flayn on Rhodos Coast five years ago. Those two were walking in a mildly forested area conversing to themselves.

And just like that, Byleth found herself missing her father again.

“Professor!”

Byleth turned to see Catherine running up to her. In other directions, Shamir and Cyril also took off to inform others. “There’s something you need to see.”

The messenger to the Alliance was found dead. Brutally killed, and not by an animal.

Byleth refused to believe Claude would have permitted this. He was sneaky and deceptive, yes, but not at the expense of a potential ally’s life.

Dimitri didn’t trust anyone beyond his closest allies, and even then he only trusted them to follow him to Enbarr. Four moons surrounded with allies has not undone the four years without. He has yet to open his heart again. “I never expected the Alliance to help us.” He admitted. And he would still fight them and the Empire regardless. “Anyone who stands in my way will be crushed beneath my feet…”

Byleth was disturbed that the recently returned Dedue would still do whatever Dimitri asked. “Do you really believe this will help the people of Duscur?” She asked.

“Whether it does or does not, His Highness is the only one who can.” Dedue answered. “I must do whatever it takes to ensure that his vision is seen through. It is the only way.”

_Your Highness. Somehow you must…_

Through Dedue, Byleth understood what it meant to be loyal to a fault.

But was she any different? For some reason she couldn’t explain, despite so much evidence stacked against it, Byleth wanted to believe that he would change, and soon. She recalled smaller moments in which he allowed his heart to show. Like when Dedue returned. Dimitri asked him specifically not to “ever throw his life away again”. And after taking the Great Bridge. He seemed troubled, though briefly, after realizing he found no pleasure in the corpses he piled up that day. Granted, these moments were recent, and were far outnumbered by his many heartless and reckless decisions.

The few good moments meant either he would either begin to improve, or he will just as quickly revert back, becoming more comfortable with his fallen state than daring to believe he can rise again.

Byleth hoped he would soon realize the best way to remember those who died was to continue to protect and defend others he cared about. But what haunted him so that this was so difficult to see?

What would Jeralt do if he were with her now?

A soft thud.

Byleth silently followed the noise outside. She could barely see Dimitri alone, sitting slumped against the stable wall, Areadbhar in hand. Not unlike when she first saw him after she woke from her five year slumber.

Rather than face him and extend a hand, she simply walked past him and also sat against the wall, putting a good few yards between them. She watched the stars as they moved across the sky through the night, wishing she knew what to say to help Dimitri. As much as she hated the fact, she needed him.

Subconsciously, she placed two fingers on the inside of her other hand’s wrist. Feeling for her pulse assures her of her humanity, reminds her she is alive. She remembered reading in her Father’s diary that as a baby, she had no heartbeat. Byleth rested her hand on her chest where her heart should be. Sure enough, there was still no movement or sound.

But if she had no heart, why did her chest feel so heavy? So… broken?

* * *

It was a pleasant sunlit day. The mountainside was fresh and green, and hundreds of colorful wildflowers bloomed in the fields.

Byleth dug a heel into the side of her horse, and felt it lurch forward. The horse quickly picked up speed, but as the horse steadied its pace, Byleth further steadied herself. She led the horse through one-handed turns to practice riding while wielding her sword.

“Good work, kiddo.”

She turned to see her father riding his horse, the one he called Roach. Jeralt then made his way behind a thick set of trees. He didn’t appear again.

Suddenly, the sun disappeared behind a cover of gray clouds, and she was kneeling at her father’s grave, the rain soaking the grass under knees. A hand rested on her shoulder.

“My strength is yours alone.” The voice of a younger Dimitri said. “No matter what happens or what anyone may say, know that I plan to stand by you, Professor. Through anything. Until the bitter end.”

* * *

Byleth felt her consciousness stir, and gradually she woke up. It was nice to not dream of war for once; however, the reminders of what she couldn’t save somehow hurt more than the reminders of what she barely rescued.

Slowly, she realized she was covered in a blanket. Upon further analysis, she found the blanket to actually be a cloak.

Dimitri’s cloak.

Byleth turned to the prince. He had fallen asleep with only his clothes to comfort him through the windy night.

There. Another reason why she hadn’t given up on him. There had to be some good in his heart still if he took the time to do this for her. Quietly, she pondered, wondering if Dimitri would slowly allow his heart to thaw as she returned the cloak, placing it over his own body before going inside to prepare for the march.

He didn’t say a word when he joined the others just before they departed. He made no note of the brooch that was now pinned to her jacket either. But he did pause to look at her, although only for a brief moment.

For other reasons outside of her strained relationship with Dimitri, Byleth felt ill in her stomach as they marched southwest. The feeling worsened when they spotted an Imperial banner across Gronder Field, and simply became a feeling of dread and despair when Claude’s Alliance army flanked them on their other side.

“I still don’t think it was the Alliance that killed our messenger.” Byleth muttered. Dimitri simply harrumphed and took his place at the front of the Kingdom Army, towards the west. Toward Emperor Edelgard who headed her army.

“As much as I hate to say it,” Lorenz commented, “I think you are right.”

The cry of an eagle. They paused their conversation to dodge a rain of fireballs.

Byleth looked over to see her other students. They all seemed to make it alright. Dimitri pointed his lance Areadbhar towards Edelgard.

“Know that I will tear your heads from your shoulders. The dead must have their tribute.”

Byleth again turned to Lorenz, and they then turned to Claude to the east, who shook his head at the fires that wiped out his front lines.

_To think I’d meet my end… in a place like this. Lay me to rest in a manner that is befitting… of the nobility…_

Byleth unsheathed her Sword of the Creator, allowing the blades to lock into their proper place. “Lorenz, I need you to take your troops and somehow convince Claude and the Alliance soldiers to flee. This isn’t his fight.”

“What?”

“Dimitri has overridden my orders on many occasions. If you don’t convince them to leave, more people will be killed than needed, and if we’re to make it to Enbarr, we’ll need them as our allies.”

Lorenz opened his mouth to protest, only to be interrupted by Dimitri’s shouting.

“Kill every last one of them!”

The main flank of the army roared as they ran to face the two armies.

“Go!” Byleth shouted to the Gloucester heir. “Now, before it’s too late!”

Lorenz quickly mounted his horse and rode out to the east.

Byleth closed her eyes for only a brief moment before going out to face the two armies.

_Sothis, I need a miracle. Please…_

**Author's Note:**

> I decided that the best explanation for (SPOILERS) Dimitri’s attack from the maiden and Lord Rodrigue’s death is that Byleth used all of her Divine Pulses in that battle rescuing and sparing students, and didn’t have anymore for this incident. Perhaps you saw the hints of that in this passage.  
> Regardless, I hope that you found this interesting.


End file.
